Chapter 44: Sigh! School closures & Capitalism

“After this class, another teacher will continue the remaining lessons.” Jiang Yi stood at the podium, his tone calm as his eyes swept across the students below. After a few seconds, he continued, “I’m very happy to have taught you this course on war history. So for today’s class, I’ll be testing the results of your learning.”

Jiang Yi pressed the control panel on the podium. Instantly, a holographic battlefield map unfolded into view.

He continued, “Today’s content is a war sandbox simulation. The battle background and usable equipment have all been randomly selected by the system. I believe students from the Military-Political Department are already familiar with sandbox exercises, but students from other departments may not understand them, so next, my teaching assistant and I will conduct a simple demonstration match. After everyone becomes familiar with the rules, the system will randomly pair you for practice.”

The Military-Political Department students immediately cheered, clearly eager to show off their skills. Even students from the other departments looked interested.

Lin Zhiyan had just finished activating everyone’s smart desk systems. Hearing this, she stared at Jiang Yi from across the room, pointed at herself, and looked utterly horrified.

Huh? Bro, I don’t know how to do this!

Not only did she not know how, she didn’t even want to play!

Lin Zhiyan practically wanted to shout in protest at Jiang Yi.

Whether it was studying, exams, or games, she preferred quietly thinking things through alone. Real-time strategy games, however, made her overthink everything and put her under enormous pressure. Once, after losing too many rounds of gomoku in a row, she’d had a complete breakdown and even dreamed that she’d been condemned to “Second Place Hell” forever.

Despairingly, Lin Zhiyan walked toward the podium. But when she passed the first row, Lu Weixi stopped her.

Resting one hand against his cheek, he smiled. “Hey.”

What a cheesy line.

Still, Lin Zhiyan stopped and turned toward him, secretly hoping he’d start trouble so she could escape the nightmare of doing a sandbox duel.

Lu Weixi tilted his chin up, arms folded. Muscles strained beneath the black-and-gold military uniform, the sharp lines of his face making him look even more handsome. Malice glimmered in his gray-blue eyes.

“Teacher,” he said, “can I go up there and demonstrate against Lin Zhiyan instead?”

Jiang Yi’s dark eyes lowered onto him, cold.

“Teacher,” Lin Zhiyan hurriedly interrupted, “I actually don’t know much about sandbox simulations. Why don’t you demonstrate with him instead?”

A wave of murmuring spread through the classroom.

“Quiet.”

The instant Jiang Yi spoke, the entire room fell silent.

He looked at Lu Weixi and Lin Zhiyan and simply said, “Both of you, come up.”

Lu Weixi curled his lips into a smile and walked onto the stage.

Lin Zhiyan followed behind him like a defeated chick, head drooping.

The holographic battlefield had already materialized before everyone.

[Selected Battle: Seabur Island Landing Operation]
[Offensive and Defensive Equipment Distributed]
[Terrain: Rainforest Island]
[Begin Match?]

Looking at the massive equipment list and enormous map, Lin Zhiyan felt dizzy.

“You two will conduct the match. I’ll guide the assistant and use the teaching process as a demonstration for the other departments.” Jiang Yi rolled up the sleeve on his left arm as he spoke, then pressed the button to begin the duel.

Lin Zhiyan obediently stood beside him.

During sandbox battles, both sides’ screens were projected before the classroom, but each side could only see their own tactical situation.

As Lin Zhiyan examined the equipment information, she asked, “We’re the attackers?”

“Defenders.”

Jiang Yi explained both to her and the students, “In amphibious landing warfare, the victory conditions differ for each side. The attackers win by capturing the fortress and severely damaging enemy forces. The defenders win by inflicting heavy losses and protecting the signal tower. Remember this: in offensive and defensive warfare, once the base suffers more than ninety percent destruction, victory or defeat becomes meaningless for either side.”

As he spoke, he embedded explosive trap boxes into gaps along the western rainforest coastline. His fingers slid across the tidal lines on the screen before attaching fluorescent explosive markers.

“This is preparation for border defense deployment.”

He added, “In real combat, those markers are used for deep prediction and positioning of explosives.”

Lin Zhiyan studied the battlefield conditions and soon noticed Lu Weixi’s actions too. On the transparent holographic screen, he stuffed tank pieces into landing pods with one hand while deploying an entire line of airborne troops with the other.

Sensing her gaze, Lu Weixi raised a brow. His eyebrow piercing gleamed, giving him a dangerously arrogant look. Then he lifted a reconnaissance aircraft piece toward her fortress, openly threatening her.

The deployment phase ended.

Lu Weixi acted first.

Several fleets advanced toward the reef-filled beach zone. A chain of explosions, crashing water, and alarms followed. In moments, thick smoke blanketed the reef area.

Lin Zhiyan panicked. Turning toward Jiang Yi, she exclaimed, “What?! They already captured it?”

Jiang Yi froze briefly at the sight of her genuinely confused and alarmed face.

“No.”

He pointed toward the smoke. “It means an attack has begun. The results won’t be known until the smoke clears.”

Lin Zhiyan was still terrified. “But we’re getting bombed! Why aren’t you panicking?!”

Jiang Yi paused, then calmly activated the prearranged coastal defense artillery.

“Because smoke only means there’s combat. It could be a real attack, or it could be a feint.”

He smiled faintly, then activated smoke bombs himself. Instantly, huge clouds of smoke spread across the battlefield.

“For example, now.”

Sure enough, once the smoke around the reefs cleared, enemy forces were already preparing to land along the opposite shoreline. At the same time, Lu Weixi coldly raised his hand and launched an airborne assault.

“The defining trait of landing warfare is rapid aggression,” Jiang Yi explained. “The moment a weakness appears, it will be seized relentlessly. Lu Weixi’s tactic is to use a feigned attack to divert attention, then immediately commit ground forces while coordinating with airborne units to strike the signal tower, sever communications, and minimize losses while maximizing damage to the defensive zone.”

Lin Zhiyan hadn’t heard a word.

She was staring at Lu Weixi’s landing craft. Parachutes already hovered over the signal tower, ready to descend. Her brain overheated, screaming at her hands to do something.

The next second, she opened the equipment box.

After scanning it once, her finger slammed down on the nuclear bomb option.

She couldn’t lose. She absolutely couldn’t lose!

Jiang Yi turned just in time to see her action. Shocked, he grabbed her wrist.

“What are you doing?!”

“I don’t want to lose!” Lin Zhiyan declared seriously. “I’m going to take him down with me!”

Her face was utterly solemn, chin lifted high like a martyr preparing for glorious sacrifice.

Jiang Yi looked at her expression and found it strangely funny—but not only funny.

Without another word, he forcefully pulled her hand away from the system and pressed retreat instead.

Lin Zhiyan’s eyes widened. The word “traitor” nearly burst out of her mouth.

But after the defenders retreated, Lu Weixi glanced at Jiang Yi as if realizing something. With a scoff, he also chose retreat.

Sure enough, after Lu Weixi’s turn ended, every trap box Jiang Yi had buried during deployment detonated simultaneously. Smoke exploded all the way from the beachhead to the communications tower.

The sandbox battle ended.

[Attacker Losses: All airborne troops and part of the landing force]
[Defender Losses: Outer beachhead defenses]
[Battle Assessment: Draw]

Jiang Yi said, “Demonstration complete. This was the most basic sandbox exercise, designed to test fundamental tactics. More advanced simulations introduce many more variables—climate, terrain, participating factions, political situations, even the hometowns and diets of the soldiers involved.”

He looked at Lin Zhiyan and added, “Though in certain situations, mutual destruction can be considered. Just… not with nuclear weapons.”

Lin Zhiyan: “…”

She’d said it already—her competitive streak was way too intense. Whenever she played games like this, she completely lost her mind.

“I think the biggest factor is still the commander,” Lu Weixi said with amusement. “Whether the commander has a brain is very important.”

“With your performance, saying that is meaningless.”

Jiang Yi replied coolly.

“The outer defense line was occupied. Once it’s blockaded, your supplies can’t get through.” Lu Weixi narrowed his eyes with a smile. “Or do you think you’d still have a chance to break through my air superiority blockade with supply drops?”

“You’re still qualified to talk about air superiority?”

Jiang Yi shot back.

In an instant, Lu Weixi’s pupils widened sharply. A violent edge leaked from between his brows. The lazy air around him vanished, replaced by oppressive hostility. He coldly glanced at Jiang Yi before returning to his seat and pulling out his terminal.

The entire classroom stayed silent.

“Demonstration ends here. Students, please come up according to your student numbers for randomized exercises.”

Jiang Yi forcibly steered the class back on track.

Lin Zhiyan only felt exhausted.

Her brain hurt, her stomach was starving, and she absolutely did not want to deal with this stupid sandbox anymore.

Biting her lip, she looked toward Jiang Yi—only to meet his gaze directly.

There was a trace of confusion in his eyes, but the moment their gazes met, it vanished.

“You already participated in the demonstration with Lu Weixi, so you don’t need to continue,” Jiang Yi said. “Sit down and record the scores for the other students’ simulations.”

“Huh?”

Lin Zhiyan looked as though she’d been pardoned from execution.

“Okay!”

Jiang Yi nodded, then looked toward Lu Weixi.

“You. Come outside with me.”

Lu Weixi stood and walked out.

Both wore the Military-Political Department uniform. One in front, one behind—long legs, imposing presence. They looked less like teacher and student and more like they were about to go settle a score.

The moment the classroom door closed, noise exploded everywhere.

Some students shouted about queueing at the same time to try matching together. Others begged people to go easy on them. Amid the chaos, many students lowered their heads to scroll through their terminals.

Lin Zhiyan did too.

Her instincts told her something was off about Jiang Yi and Lu Weixi’s conversation. She didn’t understand it herself, but she firmly believed the school forum’s gossip addicts would absolutely uncover everything.

So she propped her terminal under her arm, wearing the expression of someone struggling through an impossible academic problem, and opened the forum.

Sure enough, one thread already had dozens of replies.

[Hot Post: I can’t take it anymore, the world is one giant Mary Sue novel]

[True.]
[Absolutely true.]

[The battle between “Lays” and “Baguette” has always been brutal, and now there’s romantic drama layered on top of it. Am I reading cheap tabloid fiction or what?]

[Am I the only one who wants to know why J/Y’s nickname is “Baguette”?]

[Oh, when he first entered school he fought viciously with Lays, then sent people to smash all of Lays’ luxury cars parked on campus using enforcement batons. People joked it was “Baguette Goes to the Countryside.”]

[Didn’t Lays retaliate?]
[Of course he did. Later during one of Baguette’s operations, he privately set up checkpoints to intercept his troops.]

[…So your school’s dragon elites just beat each other up once they reach the top, huh?]

[Supplement: only the Military-Political Department is like this. Our Finance Department uses brains.]
[“Using brains” meaning making your boyfriend or girlfriend become the legal representative to transfer debt?]

[I’m dying, was she really about to launch a nuclear bomb?]
[AAAAAA blowing everyone up really is the fastest solution lol]

[Seriously though, why does the Military-Political Department recruit so many people who don’t understand military politics at all?]

[Military-Political Department superiority complex be like /.]

[But I honestly thought her calmly trying to launch the nuke was kinda cute…]
[Same. Super intelligent face doing something dumb while staying completely serious.]

[She’ll behave once she gets nuked too.]

[Type 1 to support her launching the nuke.]
[111111 I don’t wanna live anymore.]

[What did Baguette mean earlier?]
[The atmosphere got so tense.]

[Can’t say.]
[You’ll get banned if you say it.]

[Someone DM me. Contact info: send me 50 first.]

[I’ve got guts, I’ll say it. Someone, uh… combat… uh… accident… uh… can’t handle fighter craft pressure anymore, get it?]

[Got it got it.]
[I skipped war history class—what huge thing happened now?]

[Nothing much. Baguette’s attitude toward the little white flower was pretty good, and he and Lays argued again.]

[Why are they always at odds?]
[Faction wars, this is faction warfare.jpg]

Lin Zhiyan scrolled further but found nothing new, so she closed the terminal.

She felt somewhat disappointed. Maybe because Lu Weixi’s trauma was just too cliché.

Open ten novels about military officers, police, politicians, or athletes—nine of them involved retiring due to injury or psychological trauma, then waiting in pain for someone special to save them from suffering.

As Lin Zhiyan recorded sandbox scores, she kept watching the time until class ended.

After recording all the grades, there was still some time before dismissal, but Jiang Yi and Lu Weixi had already been gone for more than ten minutes.

She wasn’t sure whether she should dismiss class herself.

She was only a teaching assistant. What if Jiang Yi still had material to teach?

Lin Zhiyan sent several messages and waited awhile.

No reply.

She glanced at her terminal, stood up, and said, “Everyone, please wait a moment. I’m going to ask the teacher about the remaining lesson content and homework. If I’m not back by the time class ends, you may leave first. If anyone asks afterward, just say I dismissed class.”

The classroom instantly erupted into chatter again.

Apparently, regardless of age or status, everyone instinctively felt joy at being officially allowed to “not attend class.”

Lin Zhiyan pushed open the door and looked around.

She originally thought Jiang Yi and Lu Weixi would be talking nearby in the corridor, but they weren’t there.

Confused, she searched several hallways before finally spotting them beneath a tree near the Military-Political Department building.

She walked closer, just about to call out, when she heard Lu Weixi’s voice first.

Leaning against the trunk with his chin raised, his face looked even more handsome beneath the mottled tree shadows. Confidence filled his expression as fragments of his words drifted over.

“…you… angered… grades… cancel… you think…?”

Lin Zhiyan sharply caught the keyword grades.

Afraid her lies to Lu Weixi might be exposed, she quietly approached them. By then, she could hear clearly.

And she almost wished she couldn’t.

Jiang Yi’s voice was cold.

“Using Lin Zhiyan’s grades to threaten me is meaningless. Lu Suiyuan has already arranged your future assignment. You can negotiate your grades with the next teacher, not me.”

“Of course, originally I could’ve done that.” Lu Weixi’s tone dripped with mockery. “But after seeing your attitude toward her, I changed my mind.”

Lin Zhiyan’s body froze. The blazing sunlight failed to warm the cold rushing through her blood.

She stepped in front of them and calmly interrupted.

“What are you talking about?”

Jiang Yi looked surprised. After staring at her for several seconds, he simply said, “It’s not important.”

“How could it not be important?”

Seeing her arrive, Lu Weixi didn’t look guilty in the slightest. Sunlight turned his gray-blue eyes into sapphires.

He strode over and casually slung an arm around her shoulders while smiling at Jiang Yi.

“Lin Zhiyan, I checked your grades. Turns out you took a ton of elective courses this semester.”

Jiang Yi’s gaze turned colder.

“Take your hand off her.”

Lin Zhiyan clenched her fists.

“So?”

“I failed under Jiang Yi.” Lu Weixi sounded utterly unconcerned. “I could negotiate with the next teacher afterward, but honestly, that sounds troublesome.”

He loosened his hold slightly but still rested an arm across her shoulders.

“You happen to have one elective course that I have the authority to directly cancel. At that point, your elective credits will be lower than they are now.”

His voice grew lighter beneath his platinum hair and glittering eyebrow piercing.

“You and Jiang Yi are so close, right? Help plead for me. Tell him to erase my failing mark when he hands over the grades to the next teacher. Then I’ll generously refrain from canceling that elective. How about it?”

Jiang Yi’s expression shifted. He grabbed Lu Weixi by the collar and yanked him away from Lin Zhiyan.

Looking at her, he said calmly, “Go back first. I’ll handle this.”

Lin Zhiyan felt strangely numb. Heat spread through her stomach.

Her eating habits were terrible, and her stomach had always been weak. Now it burned hot enough to make sweat bead on her forehead.

She stood silently beneath the blazing sun.

Lu Weixi tugged Jiang Yi’s hand away and looked at Lin Zhiyan oddly.

“Say something. Aren’t you ranked first in the whole school? If you lose one course, you’ll drop to second place.”

He actually sounded anxious.

“Lu Weixi!”

Jiang Yi’s expression finally turned completely icy.

He punched Lu Weixi square in the face.

“Shut up.”

The blow staggered Lu Weixi backward. Rage ignited instantly in his eyes. Blood appeared at the corner of his lips.

Then he suddenly laughed, rolling up his sleeves.

“So you wanna fight me here? Fine. I’ve wanted to beat the hell out of you for a long time. Acting like you’re some kind of—”

“So how are we resolving this?”

Lin Zhiyan interrupted.

Lu Weixi froze.

Jiang Yi immediately seized his collar and slammed him to the ground in an over-the-shoulder throw. Dusting off his hands, he looked toward Lin Zhiyan.

“Don’t bother with him.”

Lin Zhiyan suddenly smiled and looked at Lu Weixi.

“So you think I should beg Jiang Yi for you?”

Lu Weixi had just gotten back up and was about to attack Jiang Yi. Hearing her words, he paused.

But Jiang Yi turned around and kicked him directly in the chest.

Lu Weixi coughed up blood from the force.

He completely lost it.

“Can you stop talking to me every time?! You keep distracting me on purpose!”

“Trash.”

Without even looking at him, Jiang Yi grabbed Lin Zhiyan’s wrist.

“Let’s go.”

Lin Zhiyan shook his hand off and walked up to Lu Weixi.

“You wish.”

Lu Weixi’s eyes trembled.

“What?”

Even Jiang Yi froze.

Lin Zhiyan felt dizzy and lightheaded. Every word came out slowly and heavily.

“Fine. Cancel them. Let me see what it feels like after I worked so hard attending class for this long, only for you to casually erase one course, two courses, three courses.”

Suddenly she smiled.

Her pitch-black eyes held no warmth beneath the sunlight as she stared directly at Lu Weixi.

Confusion appeared across his face.

“Have you gone crazy?”

“What do you think?”

Lin Zhiyan laughed.

“Why don’t you just expel me too? Then I can wave our chat records around everywhere. Sure, maybe they’ll censor me, maybe they’ll silence me—but I’ll keep acting like a lunatic and bite onto you until the end.”

Jiang Yi instantly noticed she was hyperventilating. He quickly held her shoulders, his tone calm.

“Calm down. Look at me. Breathe.”

He tried to steady her body, but Lin Zhiyan slipped out of his grip like a fish.

Lu Weixi had just stood back up when she suddenly leapt at him and grabbed his throat.

It was as though she’d completely lost rationality. Expression cold, she fiercely seized his collar.

“You can cancel whatever you want. You can treat me like an ant beneath your shoe. But it doesn’t matter. You’re still going to fail this course. Maybe everyone obeys your every word, but life is supposed to have disappointments. I’d rather drop out than let you use me.”

Now that she’d grabbed him, Lu Weixi’s temper exploded too. He caught her wrist tightly.

Jiang Yi immediately grabbed Lu Weixi’s arm, preparing to counter him.

“Let go. She’s out of control right now.”

“What the hell is wrong with both of you? Taking turns attacking me?”

Lu Weixi kicked toward Jiang Yi, pulled his arm free, then shoved his hair back first before grabbing Lin Zhiyan’s hand.

“Will you calm down already? Calm—”

“Who exactly isn’t calming down?!”

Lin Zhiyan had completely snapped.

Like clothes hanging from a drying pole, she twisted wildly left and right trying to kick Lu Weixi.

“I’ve substituted so many classes for you already! I’m sick of it! Sick of people like—”

“It’s not like I never paid you!”

Now Lu Weixi was furious too.

Seeing the situation spiral, Jiang Yi directly kicked Lu Weixi in the back and wrapped an arm around his neck.

Caught between attacks from both front and back, Lu Weixi immediately hugged Lin Zhiyan, then bent down and tried to throw Jiang Yi over his shoulder.

But Jiang Yi reacted instantly and broke the hold with a tactical escape maneuver.

Lu Weixi lost balance and crashed to the ground.

Lin Zhiyan was crushed solidly beneath both of them.

Darkness flooded her vision. Words caught in her throat but never emerged.

She was so hungry. Her head spun. Her heart raced. Her stomach burned.

Finally, she closed her eyes.

Vaguely, the noise around her grew louder and louder.

One voice stood out the most.

“f*ck, are you dead?! Wake up?!”

Someone shook her hard in the darkness.

“Idiot.”

Another voice snapped angrily.

At last, she fell into a warm, steady embrace, then was laid onto something soft.

The arguing continued, but the sounds gradually faded farther and farther away.

Lin Zhiyan’s consciousness disappeared.

A long time passed.

Or maybe only an instant.

When she woke again, she saw the evening sun outside the window. The dim golden light made her eyes feel strangely warm.

She was still dazed—half confused, half sleepy.

Where was this?

How had she ended up here?

Just as Lin Zhiyan was wondering, a series of beeping sounds rang out. She turned her head, and a holographic privacy barrier vanished.

A blond young man sat beside another hospital bed. His arm was wrapped in bandages, and gauze circled his forehead. Indoors, his gray-blue eyes looked darker than usual, shadows falling across his sharp features.

Lu Weixi looked delighted.

Smiling despite the bruising around his lips, he said:

“You’re awake?”

Lin Zhiyan’s awareness slowly returned.

“You had low blood sugar. I thought I crushed you to death.”

Lu Weixi let out a long sigh of relief before continuing,

“Don’t worry. Your elective course won’t be canceled.”

Lin Zhiyan’s eyes widened. Before she could even celebrate, Lu Weixi added:

“Because Jiang Yi and I got disciplined for fighting on campus, the war history course got canceled entirely. Great news—I don’t have to fail anymore.”

Lin Zhiyan closed her eyes.

She nearly fainted all over again.

God damn it.

Wasn’t that still one fewer elective course?!

Her credits. Her precious credits!